Sunday Study Guide: Patrick, Ayotte, roundtable

Gov. Deval Patrick (D-MA), currently in his second term as the governor of Massachusetts, was first elected to the office in 2006. Before running for the governorship, Patrick worked as the assistant attorney general for civil rights and in the private sector as an attorney and business executive.

Gov. Patrick was a feature speaker at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month. The governor focusedon Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s performance as his predecessor in Massachusetts. He said, “Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he's fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn't one of them. He's a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it.” Patrick is a co-chair for the Obama campaign.

Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) is in her first term of office as a U.S. senator and serves on the Senate Armed Services, Budget, Commerce, and Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committees. Prior to be elected to the Senate, Ayotte served as the New Hampshire Attorney General, making her the first woman to have that position.

Ayotte has been a surrogate for the Romney this election season, travelling to several states on his behalf. She also spoke at the party’s national convention in August, where she criticized President Obama for policies she says hurt small businesses. She said, “President Obama's view is clear: he actually believes that as a family business grows – the federal government should take a larger share of its earnings. That's punishment for expanding and creating more jobs. I call it a ‘success tax.’”

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed (D)has served as mayor since 2010 and is currently the chairman of the Transportation and Communications Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Prior to his term as mayor, Reed was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives and the Georgia State Senate. Reed has been a visible surrogate for the Obama reelection campaign.

Bay Buchanan is a senior adviser to the Romney campaign and the author of “Bay and Her Boys.” Previously, she has served as an adviser to both Pat Buchanan, her brother, and Tom Tancredo, and as the U.S. Treasurer under President Reagan. In regards to the video of a campaign event in which Romney commented that it isn’t his job to worry about the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes, Buchanan has said that was just a political analysis, which all candidates do. She said, “He’s talking politics. He’s analyzing the voter base. How do I reach my 50-plus-one votes?”

Joe Scarborough is the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, and author of “The Last Best Hope.” A former Republican congressman from Florida, he said on his show this week one of the issues facing the Romney campaign is that a candidate needs to establish an overarching vision at the beginning of a campaign, hire the right people, and then let them worry about the details of the campaign. Scarborough went on to say, “That’s how you do it and Romney’s not doing it, and that’s why he’s losing.” Watch Scarborough’s last Meet the Press appearance.

New York Times columnist David Brookswrote this week that Mitt Romney’s 47 percent commentsuggests several things about him and reinforces the people’s negative views of him.Brooks said, “I think he’s a kind, decent man who says stupid things because he is pretending to be something he is not — some sort of cartoonish government-hater. But it scarcely matters. He’s running a depressingly inept presidential campaign.” Watch Brooks’ last appearance on Meet the Press here.

Democratic Strategist Dee Dee Myers served as White House press secretary under President Clinton and is a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. In a piece she wrote for Vanity Fair, Myers compared running a business and running a government. She said running the two the same “might sound good on the stump. But the very notion misses the profound and important differences in objectives, culture, structure, incentives, obstacles, and stakeholders. So: business vs. politics? It’s clear that the skills overlap. But they aren’t the same.” Myers is also the author of “Why Women Should Rule the World.” Watch her last appearance here.